The Shover.

The Shover got its start about 3 years ago, when I was living with 3 other women in SE Portland. The usual thing happened on a weekly basis- that is to say that mail, junk, legit and otherwise, would inevitably find its way to any surface- though most of the time it was the table. The solution to this endless clutter was happened upon quite suddenly and unexpectedly. I was at Goodwill with one of my roommates shopping for who-knows-what, when we stumbled upon what we eventually, fondly, referred to as The Shover.

The Shover was about a foot and one half tall about a foot deep, and made of solid wood and painted a rich royal blue. It had four square compartments stacked directly on top of one another and was topped with a tin roof and a little tin bird adorning the space directly under the roof. We had found the solution to our mail clutter.

The structure was purchased and brought home and the compartments labeled with the names of each housemate. I am unclear on the circumstances around when the term 'The Shover" was coined, but it was obvious that there was no way we could not call it this. The Shover's compartments were also referred to each person's individual Shover.

Not only did The Shover make household organization fun, it was also the source of endless entertainment;

"Has anyone seen the water bill?"
"Yeah, I put it in your Shover."
*giggles*

Or

"Do you want to keep this oil change coupon?"
"Yeah! Just stick it in my Shover."
*giggles*

I have missed the presence of such a simple and effective device in my life since I moved out of this house. I have searched each second hand store for a comparable structure for shoving important (and not so important) documents into, but The Shover is an elusive thing.

And so this is my attempt to recreate The Shover, with fabric instead of wood, and one that hangs on the wall instead of being set upon something.


I call it The Shover 2.0!

If I'm being honest with myself, it's really more of a mail sling. I reinforced the 'sling' part with interfacing to give it a little more umph. I haven't tested the integrity of the slings, but I think it will be able to easily hold 3 magazines, a half dozen letters from friends and family and maybe, every other week, a bill or two. There is a tasteful pocket at the bottom for such things as pens, pencils or loose change.



I made The Shover 2.0 on Columbus Day, and as such, did not receive any mail, but it also makes decent wall-art. I found the thick stick in my backyard, stuck it through the 2.0 and hung it with thin wire.

The making of hard cider, part 1.

Nic and I have made an informal list of things we'd like to accomplish in Montana. The list includes; camping more, making sourdough starter (and keeping it alive) and making home brew. After a long period in which we wondered if Gallatin County had any brewing supply stores, we embarked a short and fruitful trip to Belgrade Liquor where Frank helped us out in purchasing all we needed to get started making hard apple cider. We left with a bucket, a carboy, a fermentation lock and several other brewing accouterments.

Step one, complete.

Step two was to acquire apple cider. We were searching for the authentic thing. We didn't quite want to settle for store-bought cider, we were willing to scavenge, glean and gather all the apples we could. After questioning neighbors and co-workers regarding the whereabouts to the best apple trees (my boss gave me the combination to her garage so that I could access her back yard and her apples). We once again, embarked on a shorter and even more fruitful (literally) trip to Rocky Creek Farms, just outside of Bozeman. They no only had crates of apples, but these crates of apples were located a short distance from a barn which, conveniently, housed an apple press!


The apple press is quite the contraption- it conveys the apples up to an apple crusher that pulverizes the apples and dispenses them onto a conveyor belt, which then conveys the apple mush through a series of squishing and then pours the phase-1 cider into a skive for the first stage of filtering. The second stage of filtering sent the cider upstairs through a secondary filtering device and came out of a tap directly bottled into half-gallon containers.


I should add that the above photo looks a bit messy- sticky would be another word to describe the apple-press room. There was also lots of pulp, foam and chunks. Still, the amount of liquid that you can get out of apples is sort-of impressive. We accidentally ended up with 10 gallons of apple cider- twice as much as were were originally hoping for.

That was okay though. Fresh un-pasteurized cider might be the best tasting thing ever (mulled cider following a close second). Step two was now complete.

Step three was completed last week, as we 'sterilized' the cider with campden tablets to inhibit the growth of wild yeast and certain bacteria. After a few days, we added the yeast, stuck a fermentation lock on the carboy and also a T-shirt (because direct light is not great for yeast).

The carboy now sits in our back room off-gassing and filling our apartment with a nice yeasty scent.

Squirrel Mittens.

It is snowing here today. It also snowed on Wednesday, September 30. As I stood by the window at work, amazed and somewhat concerned, a co-worker told me if I stuck around Montana long enough I might be lucky to see snow in July. It was on Wednesday when I decided I needed to finish my mittens.


The aptly named Squirrel and Oak mittens were a nice foray into my first color work project. I accidentally knit 3 mittens throughout the mitten-knitting process. The first squirrel mitten was knit too tight and no matter how much I tried to stretch it out it wasn't going to do, especially after I knit up the oak mitten- which turned out to be an inch larger the squirrel mitten. I could either have had a mis-matched pair of mittens or knit a third to match the second and scrap the first. So I knit another squirrel mitten.

When I first learned to knit, I learned the English knitting style, where the yarn is held in the right hand. After a long knitting hiatus I re-learned in the Continental knitting style. While I didn't do much research onto the technique for knitting with two threads, I held one yarn in my left hand (Continental) and one in my right (English). It worked out quite well. I feel that otherwise it may have become a tangled mess.

Anyway, enough with technique, I can't quite get over how adorable they are! Bring on the Fall.

Photo update

I have come to the conclusion that this blog is serving dual purposes- keep people updated on the haps' in Montana as well as chronicling my crafty endeavors (have I already said this?). This post will be of the former.


So, since the mountain goat excitement, I have summitted another mountain, this one had an exceptional vista. It was a full-day affair - 15 miles round trip. Hiking up mountains is one of the most satisfying things I have done in a while. I think that it has something to do with tangible results. You set a goal, move toward it, conquer and get some exercise while you're at it. What's not to love?

Speaking of conquering, with the help of a very helpful book entitled Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes I have conquered my fear of baking in Montana! This was proven by a loaf of tasty zucchini bread followed by a souffle! I had never made a souffle before, and no, I have not seen Julie and Julia, I instead was reading This blog post and felt empowered and inspired. It was adapted from a plain cheese souffle into a seasonal fresh sweet corn, bacon and gouda souffle. Take that high altitudes! I'm not afraid of you anymore- I've even started running again.

If anyone decides to come and visit me, I'll make you a souffle of your choosing (within reason). I've even used a soft-focus photo to entice you. And now you know that is not an empty promise.


Here's another thing that happens in Montana- sheep drives. It was hot, I was a little fussy and I felt as though we waited around a little too long just to see sheeps run through town, but at least I got this sweet photo out of the deal (No one was injured by a jumping sheep).

Lastly, Dear old dad came out for a visit. John Compton used my relocation as an excuse to go on a fun motorcycle trip with an old high school buddy. It was great to see some family and I think we're going to make the perilous late fall trip to Oregon for Thanksgiving- through icy passes and sub-zero temperatures. This is how much I miss you, friends and family (who are in Oregon).

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll try to get back on the blogging wagon again, you know, when I'm not working, climbing mountains, cooking or crafting.

Charismatic Mega-fauna

Upon summiting Sacajawea peak in the Bridger mountains we were met by a heard of mountain goats.

Mountain goats!!!

I continue to be amazed by Montana and it's plethora of Big Game.

Then...

On Sunday, while on a walk, Nic spotted a pronghorn antelope skull on the side of the road, in a free box. The skull is slated to join the deer antlers on the wall of our apartment.

Sunday Morning.

I woke up this morning without an alarm and unusually early for a Sunday. I rolled out of bed and went to find some coffee. Bozeman felt even sleepier than I did at 8am as I rolled through town in search of some coffee beans. I came on back home and put the water on and began mixing eggs, milk and vanilla together for french toast.


It had been decided the previous day that french toast is what would be done with the loaf of bread that we had picked up from Mezzo Matto Italian Bakery. When I was a house guest before I had an apartment of my own, I asked my hosts about places and things that locals know about and that can take new residents months to find out on their own. They told me about a family that had relocated (both their family and business) to Bozeman from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. We had stopped by last week but the unassuming store front has a sign on it that said 'Gone Camping, be back Tuesday.' So we came back the following week and were not disappointed with the atmosphere, the propietiers, the blueberry and cream cheese pastries, or the beignets. We also took home a loaf of bread that Nic said would make great french toast. And so it was.


The breakfast came together beautifully. Fresh baked sicilian bread coated with a custard made from farm-fresh eggs and served with homemade maple syrup from Nic's sister's farm in Michigan. This is hands down the best maple syrup I have ever had. I have promised to knit her a hat in exchange for syrup, which is such a deal.


Plans for the day will include letter writing, some knitting and maybe a nap, a pretty ideal Sunday. So far it's off to a good start.

week + end

A few highlights from this past week, and a few from this weekend.

here's one of Montana's many mountains. The Gallatin National Forest is only 15 minutes from town- a proximity that amazes me.

Here's a picnic lunch from yesterday. I was too pleased with myself when I figured out that I could put two sandwiches and two ciders in one convenient 6-pack. I highly recommend it for a picnic on the go.

The Suby is sporting Montana plates now. Montana has about 100 different plates that you can choose from, which seems slightly excessive. I chose the standard plates. I think they are classy.

A tomato, sausage, pesto pizza from earlier this week. Since I'm spoiled and live close enough to go home for lunch every day I mixed up some dough at lunch and it was ready to go by the time I got home.